Sustainable Coconut Roundtable Conference 2022
Advancing Resilient and Sustainable Coconut Supply in Southeast Asia
Sustainable Coconut Roundtable Conference 2022
November 25, 2022
IN-PERSON EVENT
The Peninsular Manila, Makati City, Philippines
​
USAID Green Invest Asia, GIZ, and Sustainable Coconut Steering Committee (SCSC) convened the 2022 Sustainable Coconut Roundtable on November 25, 2022 in-person in Makati City, Philippines, with the theme “Advancing Resilient and Sustainable Coconut Supply in Southeast Asia”. The event market a transition in the life of the roundtable meeting series as it hands over to a new team to evolve into a formal impact driven organization representing the whole sector. The event included plenary and group discussions, working group meetings, and networking opportunities.
The event introduced Executive Director, Gregory Bardies and Nicolas Ronderos, Collaboration Director at BSR, who together will be assuming the task of forming the new formal organization now called The Sustainable Coconut Partnership. The event focused on developments in the Philippines including a GIZ led Public Private Partnership, a pre-competitive collaboration among multinational corporations . It was followed by a panel discussions on advancing coconut sustainability in the Philippines with a large contingency of public representatives from the Philippines Coconut Authority sharing updates a well as wishes to integrate better public and industry efforts. The event also covered anumber of very interesting farmer perspectives on intercropping, diversification, and regenerative practices.
​
In their opening statement, the new secretariat of the Sustainable Coconut Partnership thanked the stakeholders who enabled this transition and announced that next roundtables will cover both a global and a local agenda with a view to represent adequately all production countries and include working group sessions of the new organization.
PRESENTATION
AGENDA
08:30 – 09:00
Registration
------------------------------------------------------
​
09:00 – 09:05
Opening of Roundtable/Introduction​
​
Christy Owen
Chief of Party,
USAID Green Invest Asia
------------------------------------------------------
​
09:05 – 09:20
Opening Remarks
​
Domingo F. Panganiban
Senior Undersecretary
Department of Agriculture
​
Seng Bee Ng
Sustainable Multi-oils Manager
AAK
​
Brad Arsenault
Resilient Ecosystems Team Lead, Regional Environment Office
USAID/Regional Development Mission for Asia
Cornelia Skokov
Chief Advisor, Coconut Alliance for Sustainable Coconut Production in the Philippines
GIZ
------------------------------------------------------
​
09:20 – 09:40
Presentation:
Update on the Formalization of the Sustainable Coconut Roundtable Platform
Update signatory members with the progress of developing a defined system to support sustainable coconut sourcing.
​
Nicolas Ronderos
Manager Collaborations
BSR
Gregory Bardies
Executive Director
Sustainable Coconut Partnership
------------------------------------------------------
​
09:40 - 09:50
Q&A
------------------------------------------------------
​
09:50 – 10:20
Presentation:
Advancing Coconut Sustainability in the Philippines
Brief overview of coconut production in the Philippines and government policies and support for strengthening the sector
​
Bernie Ferrer Cruz
Administrator
Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA)
Daryll Delgado
Senior Director, Research and Stakeholder Engagement
Verite Southeast Asia (VSEA)
Carlos Penera
Consultant
Rainforest Alliance
Moderator:
Kerstin Linne
Green Line Consulting
------------------------------------------------------
​
10:20 – 10:30
Q&A
------------------------------------------------------
​
10:30 - 11:00
Networking and Coffee break
------------------------------------------------------
​
11:00 - 11:30
From the Farm:
Farmer perspective on Intercropping, Diversification, and Regenerative Practices on Coconut Farms
​
Leonardo Aquino
Chairperson
Small Coconut Farmers Organization - Alabel
​
Victoria Motril
Owner
V. Motril Farms
​
Jesus Dignadice
Owner
JDE Farm
Moderator:
Kerstin Linne
Green Line Consulting
------------------------------------------------------
​
11:30 - 11:40
Q&A
------------------------------------------------------
​
11:40 – 13:15
Networking and Lunch break
------------------------------------------------------
​
13:15 – 13:30
Presentation:
Sustainability in Action: Pre-competitive Collaboration on Sustainable Coconut in the Philippines – Public Private Partnership
​
Matthias Radek
Advisor Competence Center Food Security and Rural Development
GIZ Germany
------------------------------------------------------
​
13:30 – 13:40
Q&A
------------------------------------------------------
​
13:40 – 13:50
Transition to break out groups
------------------------------------------------------
​
13:50 – 15:30
Group discussions:
on topics for impact programs and/or working groups for the Sustainable Coconut Platform
Group discussions on topics for impact programs and/or working groups for the Sustainable Coconut Platform.
------------------------------------------------------
​
15:30 - 15:50
Networking and Coffee break
------------------------------------------------------
​
15:50 - 16:00
Transition back to plenary
------------------------------------------------------
​
16:00 - 16:45
Reports from the breakout groups
​
Moderator:
Christy Owen
Chief of Party
USAID Green Invest Asia
------------------------------------------------------
​
16:45 - 17:00
Closing
------------------------------------------------------
​
17:00 – 19:00
Network and cocktail reception co-hosted by AAK
------------------------------------------------------
SPEAKERS
Seng Bee Ng
Sustainable Multi-oils Manager
AAK
Brad Arsenault
Resilient Ecosystems Team Lead, Regional Environment Office
USAID/Regional Development Mission for Asia
Cornelia Skokov
Chief Advisor, Coconut Alliance for Sustainable Coconut Production in the Philippines
GIZ
Nicolas Ronderos
Manager Collaborations
BSR
Gregory Bardies
Executive Director
Sustainable Coconut Partnership
Daryll Delgado
Senior Director
Research and Stakeholder Engagement
Verite Southeast Asia (VSEA)
Carlos Penera
Consultant
Rainforest Alliance
Matthias Radek
Advisor Competence Center Food Security and Rural Development
GIZ Germany
Moderator:
Kerstin Linne
Green Line Consulting
Moderator:
Christy Owen
Chief of Party
USAID Green Invest Asia